Training for hazardous tasks, such as combat or firefighting, is often difficult or expensive to perform physically on training grounds. There could be numerous situations with very different physical surroundings, which would be expensive or time-consuming to create. Monitoring trainees' responses would also add difficulty and expense.
Training for such situations using simulated environments allows for greater safety in training, less expense in creating physical stages on training grounds, and much greater flexibility in the type and number of training scenarios presented to trainees. Simulated training is improved when an immersive experience is presented to the trainee. In immersive training, the trainee virtually experiences all aspects and sensations of the hazardous situation. Simulated or virtual immersive training situations often require a trainee to wear a portable computer attached by cabling or wires to computers controlled by operators or trainers. A trainee often wears a specialized vision helmet having a head-up display in front of the trainee's face to present virtual images of the training scenario. A trainee often wears a specialized suit with motion capture devices attached. The vision helmet and motion capture suit are also often attached by cabling to the trainers' computers. Such cabling is often used to provide the data rates need for high fidelity real-time video for presentation on the head-up display and to receive responses, both verbal and motion, from the trainee.
However, such specialized equipment attached to the trainee can compromise the verisimilitude of the simulation since the portable vision computer, vision helmet and motion capture suit present different weight and shape characteristics than the equipment that would actually be used by the trainee. For example, the vision helmet could be very different in size, shape or weight from a helmet worn by a soldier or by a firefighter. Further, cabling necessary for communications with the trainer's computers can greatly restrict the range of motion of the trainee.
So there is a need for ways to provide more realistic immersive training. Such training would allow the trainee to wear the equipment expected to be used for the situation. The additional monitoring and training equipment would be minimally intrusive and still provide realistic real-time video and audio communications with the trainee. In the case of team training, it would be advantageous for the training equipment to allow real-time communications between trainees in the team.